San Diego soldiers head to Afghanistan

Downsized National Guard tour includes plans to shutter NATO base

Following the ceremony in Mission Valley, 1Lt. Heath Clinton held is youngest of four sons, Merritt. Clinton will deploy later this year with other members of his California National Guard Unit to Afghanistan.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda

Following the ceremony in Mission Valley, 1Lt. Heath Clinton held is youngest of four sons, Merritt. Clinton will deploy later this year with other members of his California National Guard Unit to Afghanistan.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda

“The families have been through hell,” said Col. Mark Malanka, the brigade commander. He was originally scheduled to serve as the deputy task force commander, before the position was downgraded amid the Australian pullout. He may end up serving elsewhere in Afghanistan later this year.

For self-employed National Guard soldiers like 1st Lt. Heath Clinton, of San Diego, each mobilization for training or now for his first combat tour involves shutting down his wood flooring company and hustling for work when he returns. Juggling their jobs with military service is one of the hardest parts about being a National Guard family, said his wife, Catharine, a full-time housewife raising their four sons, ages 6 to 12.

“When I get back, I’ll find a new career, or figure it out,” Lt. Clinton said. “I’ve done it like four times in the last four years, shut it down entirely. It always just works out.”

Maj. Gen. David Baldwin, adjutant general of the California Military Department, spoke at the goodbye ceremony at the Marriott Mission Valley.

“It’s going to be a little bit different if you’ve been on an earlier deployment, where things build up and things improve. In this case, as you go in, the rest of the United States military is going to be working to come out,” he said. “Stay focused on your mission, which is to make the Afghan security forces better, and to make them a stronger ally in the region.”

He told the soldiers: “Know you are going into a dangerous environment … partnering with some very fierce, strong allies in the Afghan national security force. And soldiers, they are your allies. They are going to be your friends. If you treat them with dignity and respect, you will be amazed at what they learn from you. Make sure you learn from them.”

Baldwin, an Afghanistan veteran himself and commanding general of California’s 23,000 National Guard soldiers, is also a father whose son is deploying with the brigade.

Spc. Andrew Baldwin, 22, of San Luis Obispo, is one of four soldiers with a general officer as parent on this tour — a sign that no one gets special treatment to avoid combat, his father said.

Then again, many of the soldiers said they were eager to go. With so few needed, only the most enthusiastic were selected.

Sgt. Deinno Okeefe, 32, of Ocean Beach, is deploying for the first time since he became a soldier six years ago. “I’m pretty excited for it,” he said. “This is why I joined. I didn’t join to play around, I joined to defend the country.”

His wife, Katie, less so. “I’m definitely more nervous because there are lesser numbers of troops,” remaining in Afghanistan, she said.

Sgt. Patrick Batie, 29, of Oceanside, is a former Camp Pendleton Marine who served in Iraq for the 2003 invasion and returned to fight in the first battle of Fallujah in 2004.

His wife, Meredith Covington, 24, is excited that he gets to live his dream to return to combat.